Recharge the battery hens
A LEADING charity is urging pet lovers to give a battery hen a home.
Each year the British Hen Welfare Trust saves 50,000 birds which face slaughter if they don’t lay enough eggs.
So far 600,000 hens have been rehomed and a series of pop-up events is being held nationwide to encourage more people to adopt at least three birds.
They are aged around 18 months, typically live five years and “nine times out of 10” will still lay eggs.
Charity founder Jane Howorth says the hens can change owners’ lives.
She explained: “It is not just about us saving a hen’s life. Quite often the hens end up saving their owner.
“They make wonderful pets due to their quirky character, and supporters contact us to say their hens have helped them through anxiety and depression – and even bereavements.”
Farms around the UK alert the charity when batches of hens are due for slaughter. Most have been caged but there are some barn and free range hens.
Anyone interested in adopting must take between three and 20 birds. They must live together in a converted outbuilding or purpose-built hen house. There is no fee, but the Devon-based charity asks for a small donation. The organisation also campaigns for hens to live in an open environment and one of its proudest achievements was persuading Hellmann’s to produce mayonnaise with free range eggs.
Jane added: “We educate people to check labels and ensure products they buy contain only free range egg. To date we have rehomed more than 600,000 hens – that’s a lot of households enriched by our feathered friends – and we can’t wait for the next 600,000.” IF you want to rehome a battery hen and help them live out a free range retirement, you will need: ■■A sturdy, fox-proof hen
house and run. ■■A good quality, nutritional feed, something like the Smallholder Range. ■■A feeder and drinker. ■■Some bedding for hens to
snuggle into at night.